Jason Hoevelmann is a Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal with the Sullivan Fire Protection District, a combination department, and a career firefighter/paramedic with the Florissant Valley Fire Protection District in North St. Louis County. His experience spans more than 20 years and he has been an instructor for more than 15 years. He is an adjunct instructor for the St. Louis County Fire Academy and is a State Certified Fire Officer II. Jason holds an Associate’s Degree in Paramedic Science from East Central College and a Bachelors degree in Fire Service Administration from Eastern Oregon University. He is currently a state advocate for the Everyone Goes Home initiative, a Board Member of the Fire and Life Safety Section of the IAFC and on the technical committees for Professional Fire Officer Qualifications and Fire Service Instructors for NFPA.

The blog is based on a class developed by Jason that he will present at Missouri Winter Fire School and at FDIC 2010. Here is a brief description about A Firefighter’s Own Worst Enemy:

A comprehensive look at why firefighters make bad decisions on the job and off duty. This class is designed to offer methods for dealing with your own problems and challenges as a firefighter and how to help officers assist their men and women with these problems. We will discuss why the same situations are killing us year after year and identify ways to avoid becoming a statistic. Finally, we will point out ways to enrich our own careers and personal lives, as well as assisting our firefighters in advancing their own careers and ways to help the organization improve and grow.

Chief Art,
Thanks I am really excited to be here. I really enjoy your stuff too.
I will be at FDIC, I will make a point to find you there. The Harley hat will be a dead give away.
Take care and stay warm.

you have some really good information and i use some of in my trainings. I look forward to working with soon. Do you go out to other deparments and teach your class? I know it would be very benifical for every firefighter to here. I look foward to seen you at FDIC.

Jason, nice site…and nice comment on firestopping. Specialty Firestopping Contractors are available at http://www.fcia.org. There’s ton’s of info, (free and open) and a free Manual of Practice…just visit and request.

There’s a lot more to this story…as our industry has built standards for installation, inspection, and maintenance, as well as the installers, of this fire and life safety system we call firestopping.

Feel free to call on us for resources. The Firestop Contractors International Association – Bill McHugh, Executive Director

I am the President and founder of HONOR THEIR SACRIFICES (www.honortheirsacrifices.com).
Please contact me regarding some content you may have that should be included in our lessons learned online database.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Take care and be safe,
John

I am the President and founder of HONOR THEIR SACRIFICES (www.honortheirsacrifices.com).Please contact me regarding some content you may have that should be included in our lessons learned online database.I look forward to hearing from you.Take care and be safe,John
+1

My name is Mike Perrone, I am a 29 year veteran of the FDNY at Ladder 175 in Brooklyn, NY and inventor of the Multi-Force Forcible Entry Door System. I believe some of the information below will be very useful for your training blog and I am a big fan of your site and its content.

I put up some training tips online of some forcible entry techniques I developed and demonstrated on my door.

Hi Jason –
I have a blog about doors and hardware, and I posted one of your photos of "The Door to Nowhere" along with links to that post and some other door-related posts. I hope you don't mind.
Here's a link: http://idighardware.com/2011/06/door-to-nowhere/
Thank you, and keep up the good work!!
– Lori

Jason,
Nice job on the training videos. I'm a B.C. with FDNY and your information is excellent..good meat and potatoes stuff without the fluff. Nice to see this in a time of "rehab, air monitoring, and all teh other specialization " that seems to cloud our primary mission.

Jason,
I noticed a couple of places in this blog regarding blocked and obstructed standpipe connections. These connections are for our water supply and nothing should be more important to a firefighter than getting water on the fire.
Nothing has really changed in the fire service. Water or Dirt seems to solve everything on the fire ground nearly every time ! We seem to prefer Water to fight fires with and the fixed fire protection systems, like standpipes and sprinklers need to be in perfect order every time.
Firefighters should be outraged with the condition and maintenance of the Fire department connections or FDC's in their communities. The standpipes and sprinklers in our large cities have been neglected far too long. Brass thieves and vandals are stealing us blind and everytime they steal our FDC's they steal an option for getting water on the fire.
I invented an adapter that I hope you will check out and the readers here will comment on.
Visit http://www.SpeedSwivel.com
Mike

Chief Hoevelmann,
My name i s michael Robinson Sr, I have been a firefighter for 19 yrs, I have developed a tactical rehab tool that targets high core temps in firefighters. This tool is a very low cost and very effective option for an immediate cooling of front line firefighters! This is a must for every truck, the hot months will be here soon! High core temps and exertional heat-related illness are a key factor in cardiac issues and that is our number killer!! I would be happy to send you one to review and test. Thank you for your time.
Michael Robinson Sr.
Firefighter/Hazmat
HeatSeeker Technology & Design,LLChttp://www.firegroundrehab.com

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2019-01-12 02:59:52

Virginia Peterson WrightMercy Hospital Fire 1950 Kills 41-Davenport, IAI was 13 years old when this happened and remember my Uncle Laverne Griffin telling us about this awful incident. Griff was a young fireman at the time but later became Fire Chief for Davenport. He and my aunt Virginia Griffin made so many contributions to that wonderful city. He was a remarkable man who…
2018-11-09 05:20:12

Ryan JohnstonIs it Really That Bad?I agree with you 100%. Its just plain discouraging to put in the amount of time and effort in to see or hear," na I don't want to train, I don't want to do any extra, its just a job......" I have been doing in the Fire Service for 28 years and I feel like…
2018-08-29 11:46:18

William K.Ground Ladders Part 2 : Podcast from Engine House TrainingI would have gained a lot more benefit from this material being presented in a text format instead of folks talking. It is simple to stop and focus on text, while talk keeps right on moving past. Please consider this for future presentations of material that is a benefit to most firefighters who do not…
2018-07-17 20:59:33